Here at Sacramento State, athletes are held to a high standard, especially with their grades. ‘Student-athlete’ is not just a euphemism to call players, it is becoming a way of life, and coaches and the athletic director are making sure these ‘student-athletes’ are sticking to their daily routine.

When athletes step onto their court or field or track, they want to conquer their arena and do their best at their sport. Terry Wanless, the athletic director at Sac State, is making sure they complete their class work with the same charisma.

“There is a great interest in successful teams and the thrill of victory, but at the same time we try to find the balance in their education and graduating,” Wanless said.

According to a poll of last year’s graduate class, 59 percent of senior student-athletes graduated from Sac State; however, 80 percent that completed their eligibility received their bachelor’s degree.

The athletes are accessible to a lot of educational tools to help them along through their college career to put them on the track to graduate.

“We hold private study halls for freshmen and for athletes who are not reaching their classroom goals. They have mandatory advising to help them pick their classes each semester. They have free mentor and tutors and we just put into effect the mandatory class attendance, where the athletes have to check in with their teachers when they have class,” Wanless said.

Not just some of the teams partake in these rules – all of the teams have these resources and have to abide by these standards.

“Student-athletes are held to a higher standard where excellence is their primary focus. Academics are the athletes’ livelihood and it is based on how they perform in the classroom,” track and field coach Kathleen Raske said.

Sac State football coach Marshall Sperbeck said his players have biweekly meetings with their coaches to see how they are doing in school, and also have to check in with their progression of their classes and how they are doing.

The athletics program is stepping up its academics and the NCAA is also helping out. The NCAA put in a new point system where if current scholarship athletes are not performing in the classroom, teams start losing scholarships.

“The intent of this new point system is good, but they are still working out the finer points of the system. I can say this though — athletes that are being recruited are not just based on their ability at their sport, but now coaches are looking at the total package, which includes academics,” Sperbeck said.

Stephon Paige, former hurdler for the Sac State track team, was not able to finish his track career because of academic ineligibility and the track team took a loss in terms of the new NCAA point system.

Paige admitted he couldn’t return to the track and field team due to academic reasons but didn’t return three phone calls to comment further on the issue.

The athletic program is moving forward though and in big strides, but it is a long process where all athletes will take the classroom as seriously as they take their set arena.

“It is like a moving tortoise, but I am proud of all of the student-athletes and coaches because they are progressing in good form. This change will help recruiting for the future, where more focused athletes will be a Hornet,” Wanless said.

David Green can be reached at [email protected]